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GEOTECHNICAL PROPERTIES OF MINE FILL

Conference Paper · May 2013

DOI: 10.3850/978-981-07-4948-4

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Hla Aye Saw Ernesto Villaescusa

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 GEOTECHNICAL PROPERTIES OF MINE FILL

H. Sawa and E. Villaescusab

Western Australian School of Mines, Australia. E-mail: a [email protected],

b [email protected]

Mine fill is the material placed underground to fill the voids created by mining
excavations. It provides overall large scale ground stabilization while allowing local-
ized pillar recovery. In addition to providing a working floor or back, mine fill has
the potential to reduce subsidence and minimize dilution. Mine fill is essential to
cut and fill, benching and sublevel stoping mining methods. This paper describes
mine fill research carried out at the Western Australian School of Mines (WASM)
over the last 10 years or so. The research included cemented paste fill (CPF),
cemented hydraulic fill (CHF) and cemented aggregates/rock fill (CAF/CRF)
optimization projects for a number of mines throughout Australia and overseas.

1. INTRODUCTION

Mine fill technology is in demand not only to fill the voids created by mining excavations,
but also to provide overall large scale ground stabilisation and allow localized and system-
atic pillar recovery. In addition to providing a working floor or back, mine fill may reduce
subsidence and minimize dilution. The most common mine fill types are cemented paste
fill (CPF), cemented hydraulic fill (CHF) and cemented aggregates or rock fill (CAF/CRF).
The materials suitable for making a mine fill include fresh reclaimed tailings, waste rock,
cement and/or natural pozzolans and different types of water. Over the last 10 years, the
Western Australian School of Mines (WASM) has undertaken a series of mine fill research
projects to allow the systematic selection of components to achieve a cost effective mine fill
mix design at a number of sites [1]. The geotechnical properties of mine fill are highly
influenced by the physical, mechanical, chemical, and mineralogical of the constituent
materials. This paper describes the typical properties of the constituent materials and
geotechnical properties of the fresh and harden mine fill.

2. PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES

The physical properties of mine tailings vary from site to site and depend on the ore type,
host rock and processing method. Figure 1 shows a typical particle size distribution (PSD)
curves of different mine tailings. Generally, a sizing limit of at least 15% passing 20 micron
(0.02 mm) is required to achieve a paste flow and 10% passing 10 microns (0.01 mm) for
cemented hydraulic fill flow. Grice [2] suggested coarse, medium and fine PSD limit curves
to determine whether a particular tailings is suitable for paste fill (PF) or for hydraulic fill
(HF). If the PSD curve of tailings falls in the coarse region it is suitable for HF but not

Advances in Geotechnical Infrastructure

Edited by C. F. Leung, S. H. Goh & R. F. Shen
Copyright © 2013 Geotechnical Society of Singapore (GeoSS). Published by Research Publishing.
ISBN: 978-981-07-4948-4 :: doi:10.3850/978-981-07-4948-4 158 787
788 Advances in Geotechnical Infrastructure

100
Gold tailings
90
Copper tailings
80 Lead-Zinc-Silver tailings

70
Cumulative % passing

60

50

40 Fine Coarse

30

20
Paste fill Standard
10
Hydraulic fill standard
0
0.0001 0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10 100
Particle size (mm)

F INE M EDIUM C OAR S E F INE M EDIUM C OAR S E F INE M EDIUM C OAR S E

CLAY C
SILT SAND GRAVEL

Figure 1. Typical particle size distribution curves of different mine tailings.

suitable to PF. If the PSD curve of tailings falls in the medium region it is suitable for PF
and it requires desliming to be used for HF. If the PSD curve of tailings falls in the fine
region it is not suitable for HF and requires desliming for use as PF. According to the
Unified Soil Classification System most of the tailings from the Australian mines can be
classified as Sandy Silt (ML).
The typical SG of tailings ranges from 2.5 to 4.1. The tailings mainly contains quartz,
feldspar, mica, clay minerals, sulphide minerals and carbonate minerals. Some minerals
are not favorable to cement hydration. The presence of clay minerals (Chlorite, Illite, and
Kaolin) and sulphide minerals (Pyrite, Pyrrhotite) would reduce the strength of mine fill
for a given cement type and dosage [3]. On the other hand, the presence of carbonate min-
erals (Calcite, Dolomite) would increase the strength of mine fill for a given cement type
and dosage [4]. Waste rock from underground mine development is crushed down to a
size ranging from less than 20 mm to larger 300 mm and often used as aggregate or rock
fill. Binder such as cement or natural pozzolans are the main substance for strength devel-
opment in any types of mine fill. It is also the most expensive component of a mine fill mix.
A choice of binder and the dosage depend upon on the strength and durability require-
ments of a particular mine fill operation. The water use for mixing mine fill ranges from
potable, recycled water from metallurgical processing or hyper saline water. Impurities in
the mixing water can cause a strength reduction in any type of mine fill [5]. The impurities
can either be dissolved or suspended in the water. The amount of strength reduction can
change with the type of tailings and the binder dosage used. In certain cases, the contam-
inated water can be used for mine fill purposes by mixing it with fresh water. However, it
is important to determine whether the impurities may lead a strength reduction.
 Geotechnical Properties of Mine Fill 789

Table 1. Typical mine fill mix design.

Description CPF CHF CAF CRF

Tailings (%) 96 94 – –
Waste rock < 2 mm to 300 mm diameter – – – 2017
(kg/m3 )
Coarse aggregate 10 to 40 mm diameter (%) – – 86 –
Sand (%) – – 10 –
Cement (%) 4 6 4 5
Solids (%) 70 76 – –
Water cement ratio 10 5 2 2
CPF = Cemented paste fill CAF = Cemented aggregate fill
CHF = Cemented hydraulic fill CRF = Cemented rock fill

3. MIX DESIGN

Mine fill design largely depends upon the availability of constituent materials and its
physical and chemical properties, the required fresh properties (flowability), strength and
durability. A typical mix design for CPF, CHF, CAF and CHF is shown in Table 1.

4. PROPERTIES OF FRESH MINE FILL

Understanding the relationship between the yield stress and the solids percentage is essen-
tial for a design of a paste fill transportation system. Yield stress is the minimum force
required to initiate paste flow at almost zero shear rate. A proper transportation system
enables delivery of CPF from surface to underground at the highest solids percentage. A
correlation between yield stress and solids percentage for different mixes is presented in
Figure 2. Generally, yield stress increases exponentially with an increased solids percent-
age. The relationship for a particular CPF mix is highly influenced by the PSD of the tail-
ings used for the mix. For example, a tailings with PSD curve falling in the “Fine” region as

2000

1800

1600

1400
Yield stress (Pa)

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0
65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83

Solid (%)

Figure 2. Correlation between solids density and yield stress for different CPF mixes.
790 Advances in Geotechnical Infrastructure

shown in Figure 1, will return high ranges of yield stress (200 – 1800 Pa) with a low ranges
of solids percentage (67–74%). In a hydraulic fill system it is critical to understand its per-
meability at its fresh state for the design of fill barricades. The coefficient of permeability
(k) of a fresh CHF ranges from 552 to 1467 (mm/hour). The flow properties of a fresh CAF
or CRF are difficult to assess with a standard test method, such as slump measurement.
This is due to the contained aggregate having particle size 40 to 300 mm in size. Usually,
CRF is mixed underground and directly dumped into the mining stopes.

5. PROPERTIES OF HARDENED MINE FILL

The required mine fill strength is a function of the mining method, geometry of ore body
and stope, and the possible failure modes. Mitchell and Roettger [6] describe a potential
failure modes of cemented mine fill used to support steeply dipping ore zones. Failure
modes include sliding, crushing, flexural and caving. Sliding occurs due to low frictional
resistance between the mine fill and the rock wall. Crushing occurs when the induced
stress exceeds the UCS of a fill mass. Flexural failure occurs when a fill mass has a low
tensile strength, caving can be a results of arching, and rotational failure due to low shear-
ing resistance at a stope rock wall. When mine fill is considered as a roof slab, the analysis
methods developed by Evans [7] and later modified by Beer and Meek [8] can be applied.
Such method for roof design procedure considers plane strain and it is described in Brady
and Brown [9]. The mechanical properties for design are usually determined by laboratory
testing. The most common tests are Uniaxial Compressive Strength (UCS) test and Triax-
ial (Unconsolidated Undrained) test. The strength development is a function of the type
of fill material (tailings or waste rock), cement type, cement dosage, water, solid percent-
age and water:cement ratio, curing days and temperature. Figure 3 shows a comparison of
strength development in CPF, CHF and CAF sample mixed with 4% cement. The results
show that although mixed with the same cement dosage, the strength development change
as a function of the components. The typical UCS of CPF at 28 days ranges from 0.4 to

3.0
CAF
CHF

2.5 CPF

2.0
UCS (MPa)

1.5

1.0

0.5

0.0
0 7 14 21 28 35 42 49 56 63
Curing (days)

Figure 3. UCS development of CPF, CHF and CAF sample mix with 4% cement.
 Geotechnical Properties of Mine Fill 791

Table 2. Typical shear strength of mine fill.

Total stress Effective stress

Mine Cohesion Friction Cohesion Cohesion
fill Curing Test (c) (φ) (c’) (φ’)
type (Days) method (kPa) (Degree) (kPa) (Degree)

CPF 28 UU 208 39 – –
CPF 2 CU – – 147 31
CPF 2 CD – – 85 38
CAF 106 UU 400 32 – –
CAF 93 UU 1450 44 – –

1.7 MPa. The UCS of CHF and CAF is about 1 MPa and 2.5 MPa, respectively. The Uniax-
ial tensile strength (UTS) strength is obtained according to the test method suggested by
International Society of Rock Mechanics [10]. The typical UTS of CPF at 28 days ranges
from 0.1 to 0.3 MPa and the UTS of CAF ranges from 0.2 to 0.8 MPa. The shear strength
of a mine fill is usually obtained by Unconsolidated Undrained (UU) triaxial compression
testing. Occasionally, Consolidated Undrained (CU) and Consolidated Drained (CD) tests
are conducted to get the effective stress parameter used in the design for mine fill barricade
systems. A typical shear strength of mine fill is presented in Table 2.

6. CONCLUSIONS

Mine fill technology is in demand not only to fill the voids created by mining excavations,
but also to provide overall large scale ground stabilisation and allow localized and system-
atic pillar recovery. The physical properties of mine tailings vary from site to site depends
on the ore type, host rock and processing method. Mine fill design largely depends upon
the availability of constituent materials and its physical and chemical properties, the
required fresh properties, strength and durability. Understanding the relationship between
the yield stress and the solids percentage is essential for a design of paste fill transportation
system. A proper transportation system enables delivery of CPF from surface to under-
ground at the highest solids percentage. The required mine fill strength is a function of
the mining method, geometry of ore body and stope, and the possible failure modes. The
strength development is a function of the type of fill material, cement type, cement dosage,
water, solid percentage and water:cement ratio, curing days and temperature.

REFERENCES

1. Saw, H. and Villaescusa, E., “Research on the mechanical properties of mine fill: influences
of material particle size, chemical and mineral composition”, binder and mixing water, Mine
fill 2011, Proceeding of 10th International Symposium on Mining with Backfill, Cape Town, (Ed:
Ilgner, H. J.). The Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, Johannesburg (2011),
pp. 143–152.
2. Grice, T., Mine Backfill Course Note for Masters of Engineering Science in Mining Geomechanics,
Western Australian School of Mines, Kalgoorlie (2002).
3. Wang, C. and Villaescusa, E., “Backfill research at the Western Australian School of Mines”,
Proceeding of MassMin, 2000, Brisbane (Ed: Chitombo, G.), The Australian Institute of Mining
and Metallurgy, Melbourne (2000), pp. 735–743.
792 Advances in Geotechnical Infrastructure

4. Saw, H. and Villaescusa, E., “Research on cemented paste fill optimisation for Cracow gold
mine, Newcreast Mining Ltd”, Technical report of Western Australian School of Mines,
Kalgoorlie (2007).
5. Wang, C. and Villaescusa, E., “Influence of water salinity on the properties of cemented tailings
backfill”, Min Technol: IMM Trans Sect A Vol. 110(1) (2001), pp. 62–65.
6. Mitchell, R. J. and Roettger, J. J., Analysis and modelling of sill pillars, Innovations in mining
backfill technology, Balkema, Rotterdam (1989), pp. 53–62.
7. Evans, W. H., “The strength of undermined strata”, Transactions of the Institution of Mining and
Metallurgy, Vol. 50 (1941), pp. 475–532.
8. Beer, G. and Meek, J. L., “Design curves for roofs and hangingwalls in bedded rock based on
voussoir beam and plate solutions”, Transactions of the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy, Vol.
91 (1982), pp. A18–22.
9. Brady, B. H. G. and Brown, E. T., “Rock mechanics for underground mining”, 2nd Edition,
Chapman and Hall, London (1993).
10. Fairhurst, C. E. and Hudson, J. A., “Draft ISRM suggested method for the complete stress-strain
curve for intact rock in uniaxial compression”, International Jouranl of Rock Mechanics and Mining
Science (1999), pp. 279–289.

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